With the growing number of FED UP Democrats in Louisiana, we have decided to start a BLOG where locals can join in on discussions, publish their own articles and columns and STAND UP for what we believe in.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Here is a BLOG and NEWS ROUND UP on PATRICK LEBLANC and his apparent corrupt dealings with officials in Texas... So much for wanting to CLEAN UP POLITICS IN LOUISIANA.

San Antonio LightningMORE STRANGE TALES FROM LOUISIANA'Fancy Nancy's Other Shoes'Three State Political Bribery Scheme,Dope; And a Few Get-Out-Of-Jail Cards'LeBlanc Boys' Plan To Control Private PrisonsPART TWO OF A SERIESDETAILS AT NOON - ONLY IN THE LIGHTNING

LAFAYETTE — This week’s conviction of a San Antonio area sheriff for his involvement in a bribery and money laundering scheme has ties to a Lafayette company owned by a candidate for the state House of Representatives.

Web Posted: 09/09/2007 12:41 AM CDTTodd BensmanExpress-NewsKINGSVILLE — Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez and some of his friends weren't the only ones in South Texas who enjoyed the benefits of helping Premier Management Enterprises secure lucrative jail commissary contracts, according to interviews and records examined by the San Antonio Express-News.

Lopez pleads no contestWeb Posted: 09/06/2007 01:56 AM CDTGuillermo Contreras, Todd Bensman and Tracy HamiltonExpress-NewsLongtime Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez on Tuesday decided not to fight criminal charges he took a free trip to Costa Rica from a private company that obtained a lucrative jail contract he'd ramrodded.

Officials look into local business dealingsTexas sheriff indicted on three countsClaire Taylor ctaylor@theadvertiser.comA Lafayette company that sells candy bars and sodas to prison inmates is at the center of an investigation that led to three misdemeanor indictments against a Texas sheriff.The company, Premier Management Enterprises LLC of Lafayette, is owned by brothers Mike LeBlanc and Patrick LeBlanc, who also operate for-profit prisons through LCS Corrections Services Inc.

Sheriff Lopez ResignsProposal calls for fine, guilty pleas on misdemeanor chargesWeb Posted: 09/01/2007 01:56 AM CDTGuillermo Contreras and Todd BensmanExpress-News Staff WritersWith an indictment hanging over his head, Sheriff Ralph Lopez resigned Friday in a deal struck with prosecutors that guarantees him no jail time in exchange for a no contest plea an $10,000 fine, a source familiar with the negotiations told the San Antonio Express-News.

Sept 4Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed said the plea deal will allow for an investigation to continue."It allows us to develop further evidence against the rotten fruit in the barrel," Reed said.

Investigators also zero in on wife of Bexar sheriffWeb Posted: 08/25/2007 02:31 AM CDTTodd BensmanExpress-NewsPublic corruption investigators named Nancy Lopez, the wife of Sheriff Ralph Lopez, as a suspect Friday in bribery, money laundering and other crimes related to a jail commissary contract her husband awarded to a Louisiana prison services company

August 24, 2007Sheriff's wife suspected of crimes Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez's wife, Nancy Lopez, has been named in a search warrant affidavit that alleges she is suspected of commercial bribery, bribery, tampering with evidence, money laundering and Election Code violations.

New allegations in jail commissary caseWeb Posted: 08/24/2007 10:31 AM CDTTodd BensmanExpress-News Staff WriterSheriff Ralph Lopez's longtime friend and campaign manager orchestrated a cover-up of payments he took from a Bexar County jail contractor by handing out envelopes full of cash to his friends, purportedly for scholarships for their children, according to new allegations from the district attorney's office Thursday.

UPDATED: Bexar County Sheriff indicted Web Posted: 08/16/2007 05:10 PM CDTGuillermo Contreras and Todd BensmanExpress-NewsA grand jury on Thursday indicted Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez on three misdemeanor charges related to an all-expenses paid golf and fishing excursion to Costa Rica he acknowledges accepting from a company he later gave lucrative jail contracts.

Texas Hall of Shame Website

August 15, 2007 San Antonio Express-NewsBexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez was indicted Thursday on three misdemeanor criminal charges related to benefits he allegedly took from a jail contractor, but the four-term officeholder avoided the indignity of getting booked into his own jail. The indictments accused Lopez of accepting and failing to report a gift and an "honorarium" — both involving the same 2005 all-expenses paid golfing/fishing trip to Costa Rica — from a company he helped get the contract to run his jail's food commissaries. In particular, the indictments…….

July 29, 2007 San Antonio News-ExpressIn the summer of 2005, a determined effort by Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez to privatize the county jail commissary stores — which generated some $2 million a year in gross sales — was on the verge of foundering. In Texas, elected sheriffs enjoy wide leeway and independence in managing and operating county jails, including the jail commissary, where inmates can purchase everything from snacks to toiletries. But Lopez had met strong resistance from several board members of a nonprofit "Benevolent Fund" corporation that he had established several years earlier to run the commissaries. They saw no good reason to contract out the operation to a private vendor of Lopez's choice, Premier Management Enterprises, or any other business……..